Student Spotlight

DBB Students Kexin Fu, Yajie Li, and Qixiang Chen Receive the ENAR 2026 DataFest Award

A team of students from the Milken Institute School of Public Health has received the 2026 DataFest Award from the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of the International Biometric Society. DataFest, a student competition focused on using data to address important scientific questions, is open to degree candidates at accredited institutions during 2025-26 academic year. The team consisting of second-year PhD student Kexin Fu, second-year MS student Yajie Li, and first-year PhD student Qixiang Chen from the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics received the 1 st place award at the annual ENAR meeting in Indianapolis in March. Their project “Integrating Multi-Omics Data for Breast Cancer Survival Prediction using Machine Learning Methods”, under the mentorship of Professor Adam Ciarleglio, used data from the Cancer Genome Atlas Program at the National Cancer Institute, and examined whether integrating multi-omics data, such as mRNA expression and DNA methylation, could improve survival prediction beyond traditional clinical variables using machine learning methods. They developed a systematic survival prediction pipeline to compare clinical-only models with models incorporating single-omics, multi-omics, and prior knowledge–informed features. Their results suggested that although omics-based models showed occasional gains in some validation settings, these improvements were not consistent overall, underscoring that greater model complexity does not automatically lead to better prediction or generalizability. The project highlighted the continued importance of statistical thinking in an AI-augmented research environment, where careful validation, uncertainty assessment, and interpretation remain essential for drawing responsible conclusions from complex biomedical data.

Alumni present research papers at 21st Annual Academic Surgical
Congress

Dr. Aiste Gulla, Assistant Professor with the Department of Surgery at GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr. Heather Hoffman, Vice Chair and Professor with the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, Naman Gupta, and Augustine Ogwoh, co-authored two papers on Environmental Exposures and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Dr. Aiste Gulla, Assistant Professor with the Department of Surgery at GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and a research team comprised of two MPH in Biostatistics alumni, Naman Gupta, and Augustine Ogwoh, recently presented their research on Environmental Exposures and Hepatocellular Carcinoma at the prestigious 21st Annual Academic Surgical Congress in Orlando from February 3 to 5, 2026. These alumni received guided mentorship from esteemed faculty that spanned across GW that included Dr. Aiste Gulla, Assistant Professor and Surgeon from SMHS, Department of Surgery and Dr. Heather Hoffman, Professor and Vice Chair from the SPH, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics during their prior graduate studies as part of their Practicum and Culminating Experience. After graduation, these alumni have successfully continued their research collaboration on hepatocellular carcinoma with faculty. These alumni had the unique opportunity to communicate research findings in a succinct format of 3 minutes or less as part of a Quickshot Presentation session toward an audience of surgeons and other medical practitioners. Augustine Ogwoh presented on "Association Between Environmental Vinyl Chloride Exposure and Prevalence of HCC Related Comorbidities" and Naman Gupta presented on "Divergent Airborne Pollutants in Cryptogenic vs. Non-Cryptogenic HCC: EPA 2020–EHR 2020–22 Analysis". All research findings have been submitted for publication.

DBB student Recognized for Global Health Data Leadership and Open Source Innovation

In Summer of 2025, MS in Health Data Science graduate student Philip Yamoah Appiah was selected to participate in the Inaugural Cohort of GW’s Humanitarian Internship Program. 20 graduate and undergraduate students across GW were placed with leading humanitarian organizations in a 10-week, full-time paid summer internship. Philip completed an internship with Project HOPE, an organization working in more than 60 countries. He was tasked with strengthening the organization’s health data management system, finding ways to efficiently channel data from local service centers to the regional, national and global level, thereby ensuring quality health data. During his internship, Philip gained hands-on experience applying monitoring and evaluation principles in global health, particularly in developing PIRS for HIV, MHPSS, RMNCH, and NCDs interventions. A poster highlighting Philip's deliverables and its impact on the global health and humanitarian sector can be accessed here.

In Fall of 2025, Philip won first place in the GW Open-Source Project Office's 2025 Student Open Source Awards Program competition with his CanisLupus 2.0 project. CanisLupus2.0 is a user-friendly, web-based tool designed for researchers and bioinformaticians to explore, analyze, and visualize microbiome datasets. The Open Source Program Office coordinates and supports open-source software across the university, helping researchers and educators embrace open-source tools and practices. It aims to create a culture of open collaboration and knowledge sharing aligned with GW’s research and educational mission. Congratulations to Philip for his accomplishments!

DBB student selected for NIH internship

Imani Lee, an MS in Health Data Science student, was selected for an internship at the NIH through the National Library of Medicine Data Science and Informatics Scholars program supporting the research of Dr. Iyer. Imani will be starting her internship program on May 18th.